e in inexpensive
ornaments, as it may be had of very fine green color and it is
inexpensive and durable.

SOFTER STONES. Coming next to those minerals whose hardness is 6 or
over, but less than 7, we have to consider jade of the nephrite variety,
demantoid garnet ("olivine" of the trade), peridot (or chrysolite, or
the olivine of the mineralogist), turquoise, moonstone, and opal.

As has already been said of jadeite, the jade of the nephrite variety,
while slightly less hard, is about as tough a mineral as one could
expect to find. It can take care of itself in any situation.

The demantoid garnet (the "olivine" of the trade) is so beautiful and
brilliant a stone that it is a pity that it is so lacking in hardness.
It will do very well for mounting in such jewels as scarf pins,
lavallieres, etc., where but little hard wear is met with, but it cannot
be recommended for hard ring use.

The peridot, too, is rather soft for ring use and will last much better
in scarf pins or other mountings little subject to rubbing or to shocks.

Turquoise, although rather soft, is fairly tough, as its waxy luster
might make one suppose, and in addition, being an opaque stone, slight
dulling or scratching hardly lessens its beauty. It may therefore be
used in ring mountings. However, it should be suggested that most
turquoise is sufficiently porous to absorb grease, oil, or other
liquids, and its color is frequently ruined thereby. Of course, such a
change is far more likely to occur to a ring stone than to a turquoise
mounted in some more protected situation.

The moonstone, being a variety of feldspar, has the pronounced cleavage
of that mineral and will not stand blows without exhibiting this
property. Moonstones are therefore better suited to the less rude
service in brooch mountings, etc., than to that of ring stones. However,
being comparatively inexpensive, many moonstones, especially of the
choicer bluish type, are set in ring mountings. The lack of hardness may
be expected to dull their surfaces in time even though no shock starts a
cleavage.

THE OPAL. There remains the opal, of hardness 6, to be considered. As is
well known opal is a solidified jelly of siliceous composition,
containing also combined water. It is not only soft but very brittle and
it will crack very easily. Many opals crack in the paper in which they
are sold, perhaps because of unequal expansion or contraction, due to
heat or cold. In spite of this frag